I zoomed in. And again. And again. How cool is this? I can see the composition of a single brush stroke! Blues, whites, greys, browns, cracks, lines, all in a single Impressionist brush stroke. Hmm, I really am getting to be an old fuddy-duddy, huh? Really, Cope? A brush-stroke? Yep. A brush-stroke. And hey, you want to know where I derived half my excitement? From the glee I knew my oldest daughter would share with me when we did this together later in the day.

Completely by accident I stumbled upon Google Art Project, a brief, wildly hi-def suite of museum collections from around the world made available by Google and its partners for free. Man, this internet thing could really catch on if it keeps offering cool stuff like hi-def art. Last Friday, as I prepared to head off to India for a week, the girls and I surfed the MoMA and Uffizi museums. Van Gogh, Cezanne, Milk Cans and Starry Nights were ours for the playing and the viewing.

Our oldest zoomed in and panned. Our youngest announced at each stop, “Oh, dat is my favordit one!” Mine too, little one, mine too.

We all talked about where Vincent “Car Stop” got his paints and why Cezanne’s paintings made it seem as if their subject’s room was so bright. But most of all we loved being together and being in the presence of beauty and passion and something really cool. We were all learning, all loving. What fun.

I’ll share more about our art explorations when there is more to share.

Speak to you soon,